


Post-It Notes

by humanagain



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, F/M, LadyNoir - Freeform, there are also mentions of djwifi and rose x juleka, welcome to slow burn hell children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-07-11 14:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 12,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7056886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humanagain/pseuds/humanagain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette is <i>still freaking out.</i><br/>She sits on a bench in the locker room, staring at the crumpled post-it in her hand. The small, neat cursive has become slightly smudged, but she can clearly still make out the words <i>you’re beautiful.</i><br/>She jerks to attention at a tap on her shoulder, and she looks up to meet brilliant green eyes. “What do you have there, Marinette?” Adrien asks, a hint of a blush creeping up his face.<br/>Marinette giggles uncomfortably and balls the post-it up in her hand.<br/>“Oh, nothing.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Reyxa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reyxa/gifts).



> The prompt for this was "Way you said 'I love you'": On a post-it note. 
> 
> Thanks to [somethingmorecreative1](somethingmorecreative1.tumblr.com) for all your encouragement!!
> 
> I hope you guys like it!

Marinette is _freaking out_ . 

She’s been staring at the inside cover her textbook for entirely too long.  

Alya leans over. “Marinette?” she whispers.

Marinette doesn’t answer.

Alya reaches out and pulls the textbook towards herself, and Marinette’s attention snaps to her.

“ _N_ _o!_ ” she shouts, lunging for the book. Marinette freezes and she gives a sheepish smile to the front of the room as she comically leans over Alya’s lap, arms outstretched, with one knee up on the bench and the other foot touching the ground.

She catches Adrien’s eye and her face goes hot. He giggles and turns back around to face Mrs. Mendeleiev, who is glaring disapprovingly at Marinette.

“Marinette, will there ever be a lesson that _doesn’t_ get interrupted?” she purses her lips.

“Sorry, Mrs. Mendeleiev.” Marinette’s voice cracks, causing the class to erupt into stifled giggles. All the while, Mrs. Mendeleiev’s stare looks like it could burn holes through the wall. Marinette slowly slides the book back towards her seat as she sits back down, and Alya snorts, earning a death glare from Marinette.

When the class finally settles and Mrs. Mendeleiev resumes writing on the board, Marinette plucks a post-it note from the page, shoves it haphazardly into her pocket, and promptly plants her face on the book.

⥈

Marinette is _still freaking out._

She sits on a bench in the locker room, staring at the crumpled post-it in her hand. The small, neat cursive has become slightly smudged, but she can clearly still make out the words  _you’re beautiful._

She jerks to attention at a tap on her shoulder, and she looks up to meet brilliant green eyes. “What do you have there, Marinette?” Adrien asks, a hint of a blush creeping up his face.

Marinette giggles uncomfortably and balls the post it up in her hand.

“Oh, nothing.”

⥈

The next day, it’s on her locker. _I can’t stop thinking about your eyes,_ it reads. Alya sidles up next to her and gasps when she reads it.

“Mari _nette!_ ” she exclaims. “It looks like you have a secret admirer!”

“Oh  _no_ ,” Marinette groans.

Adrien brushes past her. “What’s that?” he asks, leaning over Marinette’s shoulder to get a look at it. A few strands of his hair tickle her neck, and heat rises up to her face from that spot. Her brain short-circuits, but luckily Alya thinks fast enough to cover the note with her hand.

“Just a locker door, Adrien.” Alya says nonchalantly. “Speaking of, shouldn’t you be getting to yours?”

Adrien looks a bit caught off-guard, but he nods. “Yeah. See you, Marinette,” he says, a little wistfully.

⥈

 _You’re what heaven looks like_ slipped into her backpack.

 _The room lights up when you smile_ on top of her lunchbox.

 _God, I hope you’re getting these,_ inside her chemistry book.

 _I am,_ Marinette thinks. _And they’re killing me._

⥈

It’s been a week. A whole week of _agony._ A whole entire week of not knowing and making sure Adrien doesn’t know about the notes, either. Because what if he thinks she’s secretly dating someone?

Marinette doesn’t think she can handle that.

⥈

Marinette is half an hour early to school that morning. She couldn’t sleep, so there was no point lying in bed. She had to get out of the house. So she did all she could think to do, and came to school.

She yawns and closes her eyes as she comes up to her locker, and when she opens them, she finds Adrien biting his lip in concentration as he smooths something out onto her locker door. She inhales sharply, and Adrien whips his head around to face her, eyes wide in surprise.

He pulls his hands away from her locker as if the cool metal burned him, and instead runs them through his hair nervously. He mutters something about it being early and that he needs more coffee, and _oh_ , he must have come to the wrong locker, before he turns and darts away.

Marinette stands rooted to the spot for a moment,  but she shakes herself out of her confused daze and plants herself in front of the locker.

On the door is a post-it note. The writing on it is in the same, unmistakable cursive:

_I love you._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be a oneshot, but I refuse to listen to my own advice and now this fic is kind of consuming my life. But anyway, Marinette continues to be a nerd. How this girl functions, the world will never know. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to continue this fic!! It's a lot of fun writing it!
> 
> Enjoy!! <3

At this point, Marinette could literally implode.

Adrien has been avoiding her eyes all day. When she walked into the classroom, he simply buried his face in his history textbook, but not even that could hide the bright red blush on his face from her. Marinette runs her thumb over the carefully folded post-it note in her pocket.

She sits down at her desk and pulls out her own textbook, but she can’t bring herself to pay attention. She stares dreamily off into the distance, tracing the words out on her leg:

_I love you._

The words are burned into Marinette’s mind and onto the back of her eyelids.

_I love you._

She wants to take that post-it note with the fateful _I love you_ and superglue it to her heart.

“Marinette, how did Nefertiti expand the Egyptian empire?” the teacher asks.

In Marinette’s love-struck mind, it just sounds like white noise.

“Marinette,” Alya hisses, leaning over to her and pointing to the front of the room.

Marinette snaps out of her trance. “I love you!” she blurts, and immediately covers her mouth, eyes wide. _Oh, my god,_ she thinks as the class explodes into giggles. Adrien sinks down a little in his seat.

The teacher chuckles and gives Marinette a kind but amused smile. “I’m very flattered, Marinette, but can you answer the question?”

Marinette blinks and scrunches up her nose, trying in vain to remember what she was asked.

The teacher sighs and turns to Adrien. “Mr. Agreste, can you answer the question, please?”

“Nefertiti expanded her empire through trade,” Adrien recites, not looking up from his book.

“Very good, Adrien,” the teacher says, and the tension leaves Adrien’s shoulders.

Alya gives Marinette a questioning look, and Marinette returns something between a grimace and a smile.

How Marinette _hasn’t_ imploded yet is nothing short of a miracle.

⥈

Marinette collapses face-first onto her bed and screams into her pillow.

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Tikki asks, whizzing out from inside Marinette’s purse which had been carelessly thrown onto Marinette’s chair.

Marinette answers with another muffled scream.

“Oh no!” Tikki exclaims, concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Marinette shouts into her pillow. “Nothing is wrong!”

“It doesn’t really sound like that,” Tikki says.

“Here!” Marinette yells. Without changing her position, she reaches into her pocket, takes out the post it and makes a badly-aimed throw. Tikki zooms to the left and dives to catch it before it hits the floor.

Tikki unfolds the paper and gasps as she reads the words. “Mari _nette!_ ” she shouts, and her eyes widen when she realizes she’s being too loud. She says, more quietly this time, “A _love note!”_

Marinette rolls over onto her back, spreading out her arms. “I’m dying, Tikki,” she says solemnly.

“Marinette!” a singsong voice calls up the stairs. Marinette sits bolt upright and motions for Tikki to hide, who complies, letting the post-it flutter to the ground .

“I’m up here!” she calls, heart racing from the sudden interruption of her spontaneous combustion.

Alya’s head emerges from the trapdoor.

“What are you doing here?” Marinette asks.

“Well, you completely zoned out in class, told the teacher you loved her, then ran home without talking to anyone and haven’t answered your phone, so I figured something was up.”

“Did you really need to come to my house?”

“Yes,” Alya says matter-of-factly, plopping down next to Marinette on the bed. “The mom friend has arrived. Now spill.”

“It was Adrien.” Marinette groans, falling back onto her pillow.

“What was Adrien?” Alya looks at Marinette quizzically.

Marinette makes an incoherent noise and points to the post-it on the ground.

“Holy shit,” she breathes when she sees what Marinette is pointing to. She picks it up and reads the note. “Holy _shit,_ ” she says again, looking at Marinette wide-eyed.

“ _I know,_ ” Marinette intones. “I’m going to _die.”_

Alya tosses the post-it at Marinette, which hits her in the face. “You’re not going to die,” Alya assures her.  

“What else do I do, _confront him?”_ Marinette whines, sitting up.

“Yes? That’s exactly what you do.”

“That’s what _you_ do, Alya, but not everyone has the level of self confidence that you have.”

“Fine,” Alya sniffs. She pulls herself up off the bed and stalks over to Marinette’s desk. She walks back and thrusts a pack of post-its into Marinette’s hands.

“If you won’t confront him, you play his game.”  

“What do you mean?” Marinette cocks her head to the side, confused. Alya reaches over, peels a post-it off the top of the pack, and sticks it on Marinette’s forehead.

“It takes two to tango, and I’ve heard that Adrien Agreste is one heck of a dancer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! School just kind of...kicked me in the ass, I guess. Comments and kudos are always appreciated!!
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [reyxa](reyxa.tumblr.com) for fueling my ego and also motivating me on this!! and thank you to [buglad](buglad.tumblr.com), just because. 
> 
> In which Adrien Agreste is too much of a romantic sap to function. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

The first note is on his locker. The second note is  _ in  _ his locker. He has no idea how whoever is leaving these got his combination, but the fact that his insides felt like they were made of butterflies after reading the note erased the question from his mind. 

_ You’re so beautiful,  _ reads the first one, which made Adrien’s heart skip a beat. 

_ I’d give the world just to get lost in your eyes  _ the next day, which could have made his heart stop completely, if not for Nino. 

“Dude, you’ve been staring at the inside of your locker for, like, two minutes,” Nino says, craning his neck to look inside the locker. Adrien closes it hastily. 

“Dude!” Nino shouts, “You almost slammed my nose in the door!” 

“Well maybe if you hadn’t been so  _ nosy…”  _ Adrien replies, shooting finger guns. 

“Fuck you.” 

“If you must know, I was staring inside my locker to make sure I didn’t forget anything,” Adrien adds. 

“If you must know, I didn’t actually insist on you telling me,” Nino says, “so that definitely sounds like something someone who was staring inside their locker for any reason  _ other _ than checking for forgotten belongings would say.” 

“Okay, well, I didn’t forget anything, so we should get to class.” 

_ Close call.  _

⥈

Adrien opens up his physics textbook to find another note. 

_ You’re the nicest thing I’ve ever seen.  _ Adrien slams the textbook shut in surprise, and Nino jumps. 

“Dude,” he hisses. “What was  _ that _ about?” 

“There was...a bug inside my textbook,” Adrien whispers back. “It startled me, so I closed the book on it.” 

“Wow, Adrien, I didn’t know you had it in you,” Alya says from behind him, and she lets out a low whistle. Adrien turns around to look at her, and she snaps back into her seat. She’d clearly been craning her neck to look at  _ something  _ on Adrien’s desk, but he’s not sure what.  

“Not sure I had  _ what _ in me?” Adrien asks. 

“The capacity to commit a crime as serious as  _ killing a bug _ .” Alya replies. Nino snorts. 

“You underestimate me, Alya Césaire,” Adrien counters, grinning and trying to catch Marinette’s eye in a pathetic attempt to seem more macho than he is. Marinette, however, is pointedly gazing out the window and away from Adrien, but he can see the tinge of pink on her cheeks. His heart sinks a little. 

⥈

_ Your eyes are constellations _ on his backpack. 

Adrien memorizes the loopy script, the way the _i_ ’s are dotted with hearts, the way the _t_ ’s are crossed. The thought that maybe, just _maybe_ it might be from Marinette crosses his mind, crosses his heart, but he pushes it aside. He can’t get his hopes up, he can’t open himself up just to let the door slam on him again and again and again. 

It’s happened too many times before. 

⥈

_ You’re the fabric of my dreams  _ slipped into his jacket pocket.

Adrien, that night, drifts into dreams of silk, script, and sticky notes. 

⥈

_ I get butterflies in my stomach whenever I’m around you.  _ Sitting on a bench in the locker room, Adrien’s own butterflies begin to act up when he reads it. He traces the lettering of “butterflies” over and over again on the note, and runs his finger over the heart over the  _ i  _ and in that moment, he  _ knows _ it’s her, he  _ knows--  _ Nino slides over on the bench and snatches the note from Adrien’s hand, and the butterflies retreat back into their broken cocoons. 

“Hey!” Adrien shouts, smacking the note out of Nino’s hand and catching it. He crumples it up and shoves it into his backpack, glaring at Nino all the while. 

Nino puts his hands up in surrender. “Be cool, dude, I just wanted to read it.” 

“Well, it’s not yours to read.” Adrien crosses his arms, heat creeping up his face. 

“Jeez, man, don’t you think you’re being a little--” 

“I’m not defensive!” Adrien cries out. 

Nino raises an eyebrow. 

Adrien sighs. “Okay, maybe I’m a bit defensive. Sorry. It’s the stress of photoshoots getting to me. Sorry, man, I shouldn’t have snapped.” 

“It’s cool.” 

Alya sidles up next to them. “So, what are you boys shouting about?” she asks. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Adrien mumbles. He cranes his neck to look past Alya. “Where’s Marinette?” 

Alya grins deviously. “She’s outside. Writing.” 

“Oh. Okay,” Adrien replies, trying to hide his disappointment. 

But behind the twinge of longing, there’s hope. Because there’s a chance that she’s writing on a post-it note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!! sorry this was up so late!! I just didn't realize I wouldn't have a computer all day, sorry :/  
> I'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com).


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT RETURNS!!! Sorry about that hiatus while I was away, but Post-It Notes is back and hopefully better than ever! 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to write more in comments, to [somethingmorecreative1](somethingmorecreative1.tumblr.com) for being A+ motivation, and also [reyxa](reyxa.tumblr.com) for waiting so patiently all summer and then screaming at me to see whether or not a new chapter was coming literally the second i got back. 
> 
> In which Adrien Agreste implodes™. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Adrien plops down into his desk chair. It twists around, adding to the spinning sensation in his head. He doesn’t know what to do or think, so he just stares at the ceiling as if it can give him answers. He traces a heart into the air, using his rock wall as a connect-the-dots.  _ Like constellations _ , he thinks back to the note from three days ago (he’s been counting). 

Adrien begins to draw another heart, but suddenly there’s a black blur smack-dab in the middle of it. 

“Ooooh, someone’s in  _ love,”  _ it teases, drawing out the “o” as he whizzes down to land on Adrien’s shoulder. 

Adrien drops his hand to brush him off.  “Shut up, Plagg.” 

“Never,” Plagg grins. 

“Shut up?” Adrien asks, reaching into his pocket and tossing Plagg a piece of cheese. 

Plagg catches it. “Now you’re talking.” He whirls it around and makes kissy noises at it before popping it in his mouth. He chews with a smug expression on his face, mocking Adrien. 

“What the shit was that?” 

“My impression of you,” Plagg says in a muffled voice. “How’d I do?” 

“I’ll tell you when you swallow. We’ve been over this, Plagg, don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s gross.” 

Plagg complies. “It’s almost as gross as your crush.  _ Oh, Ladybug! Oh, Marinette! It’s me, Lover Boy!”  _  Plagg pretends to gag. “It’s nasty.” 

“I give you a solid four out of ten. I’m not that cheesy.” 

“Speaking of cheese…” 

“Fuck off,” Adrien says, tossing him another block. “You’re useless. I’m calling Nino.” 

⥈

“Nino,” Adrien declares as soon as Nino’s face appears on the screen, “I am having a crisis.” 

“Whoa, dude, calm down. What’s going on?” 

“Okay,” Adrien exhales, “Okay. So just to preface— don’t freak out— this is just context—” 

“Bro, spit it out already!” 

Adrien shrinks back in his seat. “Um….I like Marinette. LIke...like-like,” he says sheepishly, a blush rising in his cheeks. 

“No  _ way,”  _ Nino responds. 

“Are you being sarcastic, because I literally cannot tell anymore.” Adrien bites his lip. 

“What do you think?” Nino rolls his eyes. 

“Oh  _ no _ ,” Adrien groans, running his hands through his hair. “Am I that obvious?” 

“Dude, you blush like crazy every time you’re around her. And I’d never seen you blush before.” Nino smirks. “I didn’t even think you had enough blood in your pale ass face to do that.” 

“Oh  _ NO,”  _ Adrien groans again, resting his face on his desk. 

“Agreste, pull yourself together,” Nino urges. “So what’s the crisis that I  _ don’t  _ know about?” 

“Sticky notes are ruining my  _ life,  _ Nino.” 

“What?” 

Adrien sighs. “Okay, so you know how I’ve been writing post-its to her?” 

“No. Saying what?” 

“Romantic shit.” Adrien’s eyes widen. “Oh, god.” 

“What now?” 

“I’m  _ disgusting. _ ”

Nino snorts. “About time you figured that out.” 

Adrien sticks out his tongue.

“What?” Nino asks, feigning innocence. “I thought it was common knowledge that Adrien Agreste is a DISGUSTING ROMANTIC SAPPY NERD.” 

Adrien leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. “I am shocked and offended at being called out like this.” 

Nino chuckles. “Okay, back to the point. Why do I need to know this?” 

“Well,” Adrien stretches his arms out in front of him, “I started getting post-it notes, too.” 

“YO!” Nino exclaims, sharply lurching forward in his seat. “They’re from Marinette, right?” 

“That’s the thing.” Adrien drags his hand down his face. “I have no idea.” 

“Who else could it be?” 

“Chloé? Every  _ other _ girl in Paris?” 

“One, Chloé isn’t that subtle, and two, not every girl in Paris has access to your locker. Also, humble much?” 

Adrien smiles weakly. “Okay, fine. Let’s just say if, hypothetically, it  _ is _ actually Marinette—” 

“Which it is,” Nino cuts in. 

“I said  _ hypothetically, _ ” Adrien continues, rolling his eyes. “What do I do about it?” 

“Ask her out.” 

“NO!” Adrien blushes and clears his throat. “I mean, no.” 

Nino laughs and puts his hands behind his head, leans his chair back, and kicks his legs up onto his desk as if he’s preparing for a long, tiring talk. “Okay, you do know how to write, yeah?” 

“Yes?” 

“So you could… respond to her.” 

“No. No. I refuse.” 

“Oh my god, bro, you won’t write back?” 

“I can’t do that!” 

“Why the hell not?” 

“I’d probably die.” 

“Be cool, dude, you’re not gonna die. Plus, if you end up dating this girl—” Adrien’s face turns firetruck red as Nino continues, “What are you gonna do? Not talk to her ever? Because you’ll  _ die? _ ” 

Adrien opens his mouth and closes it again, unable to think of a response. 

“That’s an  _ I’m going to listen to my best bro in the world’s obvious but genius idea, _ I take it?” Nino smirks. 

“How are you so sure it’s her?” Adrien rests his face in his hand. 

“I see Alya. She’s plotting. Planning. My wingman senses are tingling.” 

Adrien laughs. “I don’t trust you, but I trust your wingman senses.” 

“Thank god. Dude, what are you waiting for?” 

Adrien grabs a pen and a pack of post-it notes, lets out a shaky breath, and begins to write. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and ch3 were meant to be a parallel of chapters 1 and 2, so i hope that worked!   
> Your kudos and comments mean the WORLD, oh my gosh. I love you guys so much and thank you all for your support!!!! 
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which the post it war commences. 
> 
> thanks to [reyxa](reyxa.tumblr.com) and [sadrien](sadrien.tumblr.com) for helping me get out of my writing funk, and thank you guys for all of your lovely comments and encouragement!! 
> 
> have fun with this mess of a chapter.

Marinette opens her French notebook. 

A note. 

_ Hi.  _

Marinette blushes. 

_ Hi,  _ she scribbles back. She bites her tongue as she writes, as if in intense concentration. 

She crumples it up and tosses it at the back of Adrien’s head. 

It hits his target, and falls just behind him on the bench. He reaches his hand up to the spot like he’s checking to see if whatever hit him is still there.

Marinette buries her face in the assigned book,  _ Romeo and Juliet _ , as he reaches behind his back to retrieve it.  

“Mr. Agreste, please read the next line,” the teacher instructs, just as Adrien’s hand closes around it. 

Adrien stiffens, startled. But then he reads, in a lilting voice that makes Marinette melt, “You kiss by the book.” 

Though she knows the line’s meaning isn’t literal, she can’t help thinking,  _ the book’s right here. Come and get me.  _

⥈

“ _ Hi?  _ That’s  _ it? _ ” Alya shouts incredulously. “That’s all you could think to respond?” 

Marinette pushes Alya behind a wall and puts a finger to her lips. “Shhhh! He might hear you!” 

Alya rolls her eyes. “And he’ll find out that it was  _ you _ that sent the oh-so-sexually-charged ‘ _ hi’?  _ How devastating.” 

“Give me a break! ‘Hi’ is all he wrote, too! Plus, if he didn’t get called on, he would’ve written something back, I know it!” 

“Okay, lover girl,” Alya says in a singsong voice, drawing out the first  _ o.  _

“He would!” 

As if on cue, a figure rounds the corner. Adrien Agreste leans up against the wall facing them, looking strangely awkward for a model who should probably be used to leaning up against walls. “Hey.” He grins almost nervously. 

Marinette shrieks, startled, and jumps behind Alya, who huffs in annoyance at her. 

She gives Adrien a salute. “Hi, Adrien.” 

Marinette only sinks down lower, as if Alya could completely block her from sight. Alya elbows her in the stomach. 

“Hi, Adrien!” Marinette squeaks overenthusiastically, in part due to the stimulus that was Adrien Agreste and also in pain.

Adrien blushes. “So...what are you guys talking about?” 

“We’re definitely not talking about you!” Marinette pipes up. Alya elbows her again. “Ow!” 

“Okay…” Adrien scratches the back of his head sheepishly. “So I guess I’ll get going then.” 

He pushes himself off the wall and disappears back behind the corner. 

Marinette sighs contently, resting her chin on Alya’s shoulder. 

Alya moves forward, and Marinette, unprepared, loses her balance and falls forward, flailing her arms on the way down. 

“Pest,” she spits from her awkward position on the ground. 

“Love you too, Marinette,” Alya laughs, and saunters away. 

⥈

The next morning, the note is waiting for her on her desk. 

_ If you had one wish, what would you ask for?  _

Marinette already knows the answer. 

⥈

Adrien sits with Nino at lunch, the fourth table from the wall in the second row from the door. Why Marinette remembers that, she has no idea. Okay, maybe a little bit of an idea. 

Marinette makes sure to make a detour there on the way back to her table after getting lunch. Adrien’s white overshirt is slung over his chair, revealing his only slightly muscled and yet almost sculpturesque upper arms which he holds behind his head. 

Marinette tears away her gaze, pushes down the inhuman noise that’s poised to escape her vocal cords, and slips the note and post-it origami crane into his pocket. 

_ The story goes that if you make a thousand paper cranes, you’ll get your wish. So if I make enough, who knows?  _

She hears Adrien mention her name in his conversation, but Marinette, her face’s shade rivaling that of her signature hot pink pants, scurries away before she can hear the rest. 

⥈

_ So what’s your wish?  _ folded up in her locker, clearly slipped through the slots. 

⥈

She slips her reply into his backpack. 

_ Does your locker have a mirror?  _

⥈

At the end of the day, at the lockers, she peeks her head out behind her locker row and sees him reach into the pocket where she placed the note. She watches him fish it out of his bag and gently unfold it. He bites his lip as heat visibly creeps up his face, and then he does something unexpected. 

He looks up. 

Right at her. 

His green meets her blue and it feels like a cold rod prodding her soul and she wants to look away but she can’t look away and he  _ won’t  _ look away, he’s gluing her gaze to him and she can feel her face getting hotter and the butterflies in her stomach feel like  _ birds  _ and-- 

The second bell rings. 

She starts and whips her head back behind the lockers. She presses her back up against the cool metal and feels herself sliding down, and  _ Shit, my face is redder than Tikki.  _

Alya appears above her. “What the fuck, Marinette? Why are you on the floor.” 

“Eye contact. Prolonged eye contact.” 

“I can’t believe you.” 

“No, Alya, you don’t understand,” Marinette breathes, reaching up and grabbing Alya’s wrist. “That shit fucks you up.” 

Alya rolls her eyes so hard they might as well have disappeared into her skull. “Are you going to write something else or what?”

Marinette hastily grabs a post-it just as Adrien walks by, blatantly avoiding looking down her row. Marinette, in a rush of adrenaline that seems to completely block her brain’s functionality as well as any kind of coherent thought, scrawls  _ I LOVE YOUR FACE  _ and chucks it at him. 

He bends down to pick it up, reads it, and bursts into laughter. 

_ Oh, god, he hates me,  _ she thinks and buries her face in her hands,  _ he thinks I’m an idiot.  _

But next thing she knows, a crumpled wad of paper lands at her feet. 

_ You’re really fucking cute and I hate it.  _

_ I  _ knew _ it,  _ Marinette thinks, but that doesn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. 

As she opens her locker and puts  _ Romeo and Juliet _ into her bag, she can’t help but wonder what it would feel like to know the meaning of being  _ kissed by the book _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, kudos and comments mean the WORLD and I'm so glad people are enjoying this! Sorry for a bit of a delay on the upload, but this chapter's here now, which is all that matters. 
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AT LONG LAST!! Sorry about the long wait, I just had zero inspiration whoops 
> 
> but anyway!! this is a fluffy MESS chat is a WRECK and i love this kid. 
> 
> also, this chapter is the calm before the storm pls enjoy the happiness while u can
> 
> Enjoy whatever this is <3 thanks for reading!

When he lightly touches down on the balcony, Ladybug is already there. She doesn’t notice Chat Noir, or if she does, she doesn’t show it. 

She just sits there. She’s slightly leaned back, supporting herself with her arms. Her back is slightly arched and her head is tilted back just a tiny bit, angled towards the stars. They cast a cool glow over her features, making her celestial eyes glisten. It’s like the stars are trying to tell her something, and her eyes are giving them their answer. Her lips are quirked into a small, nearly imperceptible smile, which Chat would not have noticed if he hadn’t been...staring at them. 

He shakes his head and tells himself to focus. He creeps up behind Ladybug and gently brushes his lips over her cheek. “Hey,” he whispers, sitting down next to her. 

This has become a kind of...standard greeting for them. There’s nothing romantic about it (as much as Chat wishes there were). They’ve just become so close that they can just do that now. 

“Hey,” she whispers back, and her voice sounds like bells. She pushes herself up into a normal sitting position and kicks her legs a little as they dangle off the side of the roof, kind of like an overexcited little kid. Which in itself is kind of how Chat feels whenever he’s around her. He has to bite back a grin. 

“Quiet night so far?” he asks. 

“Yeah. Too quiet,” she answers. “I’m glad you’re here, the silence was starting to make me kind of skittish.” 

“You, skittish?” He nudges her with his shoulder. “Never.” 

“You should see me when I’m not Ladybug. I’m a mess.” 

“A hot mess, though.” Chat smirks, and Ladybug punches his arm. He’d deserved that one. 

“What are you like without the mask?” she inquires. The question makes him jump a little. Usually, he was the one asking questions like that, but lately, she’d started to wonder as well. Almost as much as he did, it seemed. Chat hoped she was wondering for the same reasons. 

“I’m almost as  _ purrfect _ ,” he replies, earning a groan. “And what about you, my lady?” 

“Well, I have the  _ biggest _ crush on one of my classmates, which doesn’t help me on the being-a-mess front,” she laughs, a blush creeping up her face, but her eyes twinkling all the same. “God, this feels like a middle school gossip session.” 

“Funny,” he breathes, forcing the jealousy that rises up in his throat back down. “I have a huge crush on one of my classmates, too.” 

“Oh?” Ladybug lists her head to the side. “What’s she like?” 

And the world melts away. “She’s cute, she’s super talented, she’s always laughing and probably doesn’t have a mean bone in her body,” he sighs. “Also, her handwriting is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. She dots her  _ i _ ’s with  _ hearts,  _ LB.” 

“Yeah, adorable,” she echoes, almost wistfully. 

“But don’t worry, my lady,” he says, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. “I like you just as much.” 

“Not in the same way, though, I hope.” She gives a strangled laugh, as if she doesn’t mean it, like it pains her to say. Chat can’t figure out why. 

“I could never feel the same about anyone else,” he answers, insides turning to mush. “You’re my lady.” Chat feels a gentle tickling sensation on his cheek. He jumps a little. “What was that?” 

“Just me.” she murmurs and clarifies, “Eyelashes. It’s called a butterfly kiss.” 

“How about a ladybug kiss?” he wiggles his eyebrows, pretending to be joking. But for once in his life, he’s totally serious. 

“Silly kitten,” she laughs, flicking his bell. “I just figured you could use some kindness from a butterfly for once.” 

“Yeah. That was the nicest butterfly I’ve encountered in a while.” It was definitely nicer than the ones flying around in his stomach, anyway. 

“Do you ever wonder what it’d be like if we  _ didn’t  _ have to fight evil butterflies all the time?” 

“Not really,” he admits. 

“Why not?” 

“I don’t know.” But he  _ does  _ know. He likes this little crime-fighting bubble they’ve blown around themselves. He likes the patterns in the soap they’ve created together, how they’ve learned to dance around with the sunlight on its surface, how it’s floated up above everyone else, leaving just the two of them on the top of the world. And he doesn’t want to think about what would happen if it popped. “Do you? Wonder what it’d be like, I mean.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Hm?” 

“I think… I think things would be different. We wouldn’t need to come up here all the time. We wouldn’t need to work together as much. It’d just be...different.” Chat’s heart ached just thinking about it. 

“Good different or bad different?” 

She considers it for a moment. “Lonely. Lonely different.” 

“So you admit it,” he muses, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “You’d miss me.” 

She changes the subject abruptly. “Tell me more about the girl in your class.” 

“Why?” 

“I don’t know. I like hearing you talk about things you love.” She rests her head on his shoulder. “You just get… peaceful? I don’t know. It’s nice.” 

So he talks about Marinette. He talks until he can’t tell where his description of solely Marinette stops and Ladybug bleeds in. He talks until Ladybug’s breathing against his shoulder slows into a steady rhythm, and he knows she’s asleep. 

He runs his fingers through her hair and presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head. As they sit there like that, her fast asleep and him having never felt more awake in his life, Chat knows he loves her. And he loves Marinette. He loves them the same and he loves them differently. 

He loves Ladybug’s confidence. He loves Marinette’s nervousness. 

He loves Ladybug’s harsh realities and brutal honesty. He loves Marinette’s shimmering fantasies and sugarcoated encouragements. 

He loves Ladybug’s playful stares. He loves Marinette’s quick glances, how she looks away as soon as she thinks he sees her looking.

He loves Ladybug with kisses on the cheek and fist bumps. He loves Marinette with post-it notes and scribbled messages. 

He loves both of them with his whole heart. 

He just loves and loves and loves and wishes that one day, someone,  _ anyone,  _ would love him back. 

Someday. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so. i started the next chapter. i apologize in advance. i hate me too 
> 
> this chapter was so damn fun to write yall have NO IDEA so i hope u guys loved it as much as i do !! Let me know what you think in comments! 
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my gOD i am so sorry about that long hiatus i had no time, no inspiration, and didn’t really have the energy to post this. to make up for it, i’ll probably post chapter 8 within the next few days. 
> 
> Thanks so much for your patience! 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is ...pretty dark. In a way that is very inconsistent with the chapters before it. so i’m giving you guys a warning that there is mention and implication of abuse in it. 
> 
> Sorry for the angst...i just hadnt written angst in a while and i did it impulsively it’s just in my nature. I’ve returned to my Angst Roots
> 
> thanks to [sadrien](sadrien.tumblr.com) for being wonderful and for helping me with this fic and chapter and life and yes. what a good 
> 
> Enjoy crying!
> 
> **EDIT 11/30/17** I didn't particularly like one of the... creative choices I made in this chapter originally. I went back in and did a bit of a rewrite of parts of the chapter. It won't in any way change the fic outside of this chapter. If you wanna reread this chapter that's fine; if you don't that's also fine.  
> 

Marinette is late.

She’s never late.

She’s _so_ _fucked._  

She’d been so busy worrying about Adrien that she completely lost track of time, and now she was late for patrol.

Chat Noir was going to kill her.

Or tease her for the rest of her life, which would _also_ kill her.

“Tikki, spots on!” she hisses, careful not to wake her parents. She creaks open her window, and she runs.

She runs off the worry. The wind hits her face, and it blows away the image of the _fear_ on Adrien’s face. She jumps from rooftop to rooftop, swings from balconies, trying to outrun Marinette’s concerns. She’s _Ladybug._ She has to _focus._

But the memory of Adrien from that afternoon keeps getting in the way.

⥈

Adrien had looked _exhausted._ As he walked to his desk, he stepped gingerly, as if he were afraid his body would shatter if he put too much weight down on the floor. Marinette had watched him, biting her lip in concern as she watched him slump into his seat.

“Hey, dude, you okay?” Nino asked, putting his arm around Adrien’s shoulders and giving him a squeeze. Adrien recoiled.

“‘M fine,” he slurred nonetheless, but his head drooped down, and he didn’t meet Nino’s eyes.

Marinette glanced over at Alya for some kind of clarification, but she only received a shrug in return.

“Alright, class, I’ll be handing back your tests now,” Ms. Mendeleiev declared, and Adrien lifted his head.

Nino got his test first, and he shrugged, as if to say, “I can live with that.”

Then Marinette got her test. 85. Better than she’d expected, because, well, _physics._

Adrien’s test was last. He started as Ms. Mendeleiev slid the test onto his desk.

“You can do better, Mr. Agreste,” she said, clicking her tongue. Adrien flinched, as if the words themselves cut into him. “I need a parent signature on this.”

That was only required if you… failed the test.  

Adrien exhaled slowly, shoulders sinking, as he seemed to surrender to looking down at his score. He tensed.

Ms. Mendeleiev stalked to the front of the room and began teaching her lesson, but Adrien didn’t seem to be listening.

“I don’t understand,” Adrien muttered, seemingly to no one. “I’m good at this, physics is my thing, I--”

“Mr. Agreste, I don’t know who you’re talking to and I don’t care. I’m speaking,” Ms. Mendeleiev barked, oblivious to Adrien’s distress.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. As she resumed her lesson, Adrien closed his eyes and rubbed them with his thumb and index finger. “Shit,” he breathed.

“What’s wrong?” Nino hissed.

“My dad--” Adrien stopped his sentence short and raised his hand like it was a surrender. _Shit. What happened?_

“Yes, Adrien?” Ms. Mendeleiev sounded annoyed at the interruption.

“May I please be excused?”

“I suppose.”

Adrien hastily rose out of his seat, stuffed the test into his bag, and quickly walked out of the room, standing just a little bit too stiff, too straight.

Marinette didn’t see him for the rest of the day.

Only a post-it on her locker.

_Don’t worry about me. I’m fine._

⥈  

She’s still worried.

When she touches down on the rooftop, or as she’d come to think of it, _their_ rooftop, Chat was, naturally, already there. If _Chat_ beat her there, she was _super_ late.

She skids to a stop next to him. “ _Sorryi’mlatei’mtheworsteveritwon’thappenagainiswear.”_

“Oh my god, LB, calm down, it’s okay. It’s payback for… all the time.”

Ladybug lets out a breath. “Okay. Payback taken.” She playfully punches him in the right arm as she sits, but he flinches.

“Oh god, what happened? Are you hurt?”

“No. That just startled me. Sorry.” Playful punches were almost a ritual for them. He shouldn't have been surprised. But he was, and Ladybug was worried.

“You could’ve called me and asked to stay home. You don’t need to be here if you’re that anxious.”

Chat bites his lip. “I didn’t want…”

“Didn’t want what? Didn’t want to let me down? You could _never,_ ” she assures him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

He shakes his head slowly. “I didn’t want to go home.”

“Oh.”

“I can’t be there. I just needed to be here, okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. It’s always okay.”

“I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t _deal with him.”_

“Who?”

“My dad,” he spits, as if talking about him is repulsive on his tongue. “He just gets so _angry_. Especially after akuma attacks? I guess his sales drop or something and he just-- sometimes he’ll get drunk and...? He takes it out on _me,_ Ladybug. And it’s always, _you can do better,_ and _no son of mine is permitted to fail_ and I can’t-- I’m scared of being in my own house. It’s not home anymore, home is _here,_ it’s just so fucking _suffocating._ I can’t fucking breathe there. I just. I _can’t_ _fucking do this.”_

“So why don’t you leave?” she breathes, almost afraid of the answer.

“My dad, he’s--” his voice breaks. “He’s all I have left.”

“Oh, _Chat,”_ she whispers, taking his hand and gently running her thumb over it. “He’s not all you have. You have me.”

Chat’s shoulders start to shake, and then he’s crying.

She pulls him into her arms. He holds onto her as if she were the last thing keeping him on Earth. His fingernails dig into her arm, and she wishes it hurt more, that she could feel just a _fraction_ of his pain and take it away. Every sob that racks his body cuts into her like a knife, and she bites back her own tears. She needs to be strong. She needs to be _here._

“Everything is going to be okay,” she whispers, dipping her head down to brush his ear with a kiss.

His vice grip on her tightens. “Don’t leave,” he chokes. “Please don’t ever leave me.”

“I won’t,” she swears, and she means it. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

His hold on her begins to loosen, and his sobs mix in with sniffles and shallow breaths. “Yeah,” his voice cracks and so does her heart. “You’re here.”

“I’m here.” She pulls Chat into her lap and strokes his hair as he falls asleep, hunching over him as if to protect him from whatever’s hurting him, to shield him from the world.

When she knows he’s no longer awake, she risks planting a kiss on his forehead. _Shit,_ she cares about him _so much._

He’d be okay.

 _They’d_ be okay. They always were, in the end.

Here is this boy who is always here for her, who teases but always knows when to stop, who knows how to make her laugh. Here is this boy who fights by her side, who fights for her, with her, but _never_ against her. Here is this boy who is so caring, who throws his full self into everything he does, who would throw himself in front of her if it meant she would be safe.

Here is this boy who she loves.

As she looks down at him, fast asleep, she knows he makes her feel happy. She knows he makes her feel safe.

She knows for sure that she loves him. What she doesn’t know is that she isn’t _in_ love with him.

But what she does know is that, in that moment, her fingers itched to scrawl out a post-it note for Chat Noir, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i kind of feel bad for writing this chapter tbh the next ones much happier i promise  
> i think this is the darkest this fic is going to get. this probably won't happen again. 
> 
> as always, kudos and comments mean the world <3 you're all wonderful and i love hearing your thoughts 
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make up for that long ass wait leading up to chapter 7, here’s an update less than a week after the last one! This is a much happier chapter than the last one, but there’s a part at the beginning that references ch7′s happenings, so I’d suggest rereading it if you need a refresher. 
> 
> Anway, enjoy this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you’ll have a lot of fun reading it, too.

Adrien heals. His bruises fade, he covers his scars. The wounds nobody can see still hurt, but they’ve lessened to a dull ache. Ladybug sewed those up with stitches that not even his father could remove. He could tug at them, try to rip them out, draw blood and tears and screams, but the stitches would never be fully taken out until Adrien was ready. Ladybug had made sure of that. 

Adrien is a living ghost, but his form solidifies until his father cannot walk through him anymore.

_ It’s okay. I’m here _ , Ladybug had said _.  _ Thanks to her, Adrien’s here, too. 

⥈ 

He leaves a post-it note on her locker.  _ Sorry.  _

He gets one back. It’s in his physics notebook.  _ For what?  _

_ For worrying you.  _

He doesn’t hear back from her that day. He wonders if he’s said something wrong. 

⥈ 

The next morning, there’s a note waiting for him on his desk when he sits down. He lets out a breath he might as well have been holding in all night when he reads the message.  _ It’s okay. I’m here.  _

He smiles. It reminds him of Ladybug. 

He begins to scribble a note back to her, but the French teacher hovers over him before he can finish the first word. She doesn’t take it from him, but her tongue clicks in warning. Adrien nods silently and slips the unfinished note into his pocket. 

⥈ 

Class ends, and Adrien quickly takes out the post-it to finish before he leaves the room. He writes down the rest of his word and writes the first letter of the second, but then  _ Marinette _ walks past. He snatches up the note from the desk and shoves it into his bag in one very swift and  _ very _ noticeable movement. 

“Uh… you okay there?” Marinette asks, looking both at him and right through him. “You looked like you were about to fall out of your desk.” 

She bites her lip in concern, and although he definitely does _not_ stare at that, Adrien can’t help thinking that he’s already fallen. 

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he answers, and for once, he wasn’t lying. “You’re here.” 

Marinette pales, mumbles something about needing to go to her locker and rushes out of the room. 

_ Damn it, Agreste, _ Adrien thinks.  _ Pull your shit together.  _

⥈ 

He uses a fresh post-it, rather than the crumpled one, to finish the note from earlier.  _ I’m here, too,  _ he’s written, and it feels like some kind of little victory. He makes a mental note to put it on her locker at the end of the day. 

But he remembers her face when he’d referenced what she’d written him. He guesses she doesn’t like him acknowledging that it’s her sending him messages. But one thought triggers another, and suddenly Adrien is worried.  _ What if it  _ isn’t  _ her?  _

Nino sidles into the booth at their usual lunch table. “Dude, stop chewing on your pen. That’s not part of a healthy breakfast.” 

“ _ You’re  _ not part of a healthy breakfast,” Adrien artfully retorts.

“I’m sure cannibals would disagree.” 

“Fuck off.” 

“What are you going to do,  _ papercut me? _ ” 

_ “Yes,”  _ Adrien shoots back, holding up his pack of sticky notes. 

Nino’s eyes widen and he wiggles his eyebrows. “I see. Is that why you were chewing on your pen?” 

“What if it’s not her?” Adrien blurts. 

“We’ve been over this.” 

“But  _ what if?”  _

“If it’s not her, I’ll kiss Alya.” 

Adrien snorts. “It  _ could  _ be Alya.” 

“I really fucking hope it’s not Alya.” 

“Yeah, because then I’ll have been writing love notes to your girlfriend.” The thought would have been hilarious if it hadn’t seemed so damn tragic. 

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Adrien raises his eyebrows. “Okay, she might be a little bit my girlfriend.” 

Adrien, on impulse, stands up, scans the room for Alya, and when he finds her, yells, “Hey Alya!” He realizes a little too late that he probably should never make impulse decisions. But then he looks at Nino’s panic-stricken face and makes a mental note to make impulse decisions  _ way  _ more often. 

Alya maneuvers her way over to them, and when she reaches the table, she bows deeply and winks at Nino, who blushes furiously. “Yes, marshmallow? Your wish is my command.” 

“My royal subject Nino here claims that you are ‘a little bit his girlfriend.’ How much of this statement is true?” 

“Sir Nino,” Alya says, placing her hands on her hips. “I am deeply shocked and offended at this proposition.” She moved her hands from her hips to Nino’s face and pulls him in for a kiss. Nino’s immediate reaction is horror and surprise but it quickly fades to an alarmed kind of glee, which makes Adrien absolutely lose his shit. Nino looks like a lovesick deer in headlights. 

Alya pulls away and pats Nino’s cheek like she’s commending a faithful student on a job well done. “I am a  _ lot  _ a bit your girlfriend.” She gives him another wink, bows to Adrien, and strides off back to her table, standing a bit straighter than when she’d come. 

Adrien looks at Nino, who doesn’t return his gaze due to an extreme case of staring-at-Alya-Césaire. “Holy  _ shit _ , gettin’ it,” Adrien giggles. 

Nino slowly tore his attention away from Alya to stare Adrien directly in the face. “So I take it you’re a little bit Marinette’s boyfriend?” 

“Shut the  _ fuck  _ up.” 

⥈ 

The day is over. They’re all in the locker room. Adrien doesn’t know why, but this note,  _ I’m here, too _ , feels a little bit different, a little more important, than the rest of them. Nonetheless, he is  _ going _ to deliver it. He closes his locker and walks with purpose towards hers. He stares at the note intently as he walks, almost as if it’s his guidelight. 

He doesn’t look where he’s going. He knows the route. 

But he doesn’t anticipate obstacles. His outheld hand slams into somebody’s chest, and a hand slams into his forehead in return. They both yelp in surprise and stumble back instinctively, giving them both a better view of who they’ve just run into. 

Adrien’s run into  _ Marinette _ . They make eye contact, and he’s falling. Having almost fallen to the floor, he’s falling in love, falling for her, and falling deeper into the well of his doubts as he sees that his  _ I’m here, too  _ is stuck directly over her heart.

He peels a sticky note off of his forehead. 

He breaks the stare to look at the note and reads,  _ I love you.  _ Adrien breathes in sharply.

He’s descending into the uncertainty well and suddenly a bucket is thrust under him, pulling him up into the sunlight, and when he’s out and his eyes adjust to the bright blue of the sky and of her eyes, it’s  _ blinding.  _ Both of their faces flare red hot and they turn and run in opposite directions. 

_ It’sherit’sherit’sher.  _ He slams into Nino. 

Nino pushes Adrien off of him and holds him at arm’s length. “The fuck happened to  _ you _ ?” 

“It’s her,” Adrien pants, heart racing. He shoves the note into Nino’s hands.

“ _ Fuck damn it, _ ” Nino says. “I just kissed Alya Césaire for  _ nothing _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT’S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! honestly posting this is making me super nervous because it’s been such a long wait? which im very sorry about? so i owe yall a really good chapter in return for u guys being so lovely and patient <333 
> 
> thank you to [sadrien](sadrien.tumblr.com) and [reyxa](reyxa.tumblr.com) for being the best cheerleaders ever, love you guys <3 also HUGE shoutout to sadrien for beta-ing (ish??) for me. god bless i lov u 
> 
> enjoy!!!
> 
>  ** EDIT!!!! ** the chapter got cut off a little early!!!! there's more stuff at the end ahhh sorry abt that!!!!!

Adrien is drowning. The harsh blue of the memory of her eyes pull him in deeper and deeper, and Adrien doesn’t know if he wants to stay above water anymore. He now knows for sure that the post-it notes had been Marinette, but he still almost can’t believe it. It feels like a dream that is too good to be true, but Adrien hasn’t woken up yet.

Adrien is so in love. And he is _so fucked_.

Adrien sinks into his chair as he spins in it absentmindedly. The words “I love you” scrawl their way across his vision again and again and again. He hugs the note to his chest.

“I love you,” he murmurs, swooning a little as he says it.

“Aw, Adri-chou! I didn’t know you felt that way about me!” Plagg coos as he zips into view.

Adrien rolls his eyes. “Plagg, you _know_ I hate it when Chloé calls me that.”

“Adri- _fromage_ , is that fucking better?”

“I hate you.”

Plagg’s tail droops in mock disappointment. “You said you loved me! I thought we had something special, Adri-gruyére!”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Whatever you say, Adri-parmesan.”

“That cheese isn’t even _French,_ Plagg.”

“Hey! We don’t discriminate here.”

“Whatever. The point is, Marinette said she loves me!”

“Disgusting,” Plagg replies.

“I'm not sure you're understanding the gravity of this situation. She said that _she loves me.”_

 _“_ Mhm. Can I have cheese?”

“You're heartless. I'm calling Nino. Get your ass in my bookbag.”

“There'd better be cheese in there,” he grumbles and then disappears into its contents.

As the video call ringtone plays, Adrien stares into space, thinking of his near future with Marinette with equal parts hope, optimism, and abject horror. _What the fuck do I do now?_

“Hello? _Hello?_ Dude. Bro. Lover boy? _ADRIEN,”_ Nino screeches through the speakers, sending Adrien sprawling onto the floor due to an acute case of being startled shitless with the most notable symptom being falling out of chairs.

“Holy _shit!_ You scared the hell out of me!” Adrien yells as he hauls himself back into a normal sitting position.

“Dude, you were staring off into space with the same facial expression as a lovesick puppy for an entire sixty seconds,” Nino scolds.

Adrien blushes, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “Was I?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m pathetic,” he groans.

“I’m not gonna argue. Anyway, you called because…?”

“Marinette.”

“I repeat, you called because…?”

Adrien taps on the screen with a confused expression on his face. “Is something wrong with my audio? I heard _you_ the first time…”

“ _God_ you’re dense,” Nino mutters. “Adrien. Buddy. Pal. I heard you loud and clear. But what about Marinette could you _possibly_ have to talk about with me?”

Adrien scowls. “I don’t know, maybe _she said she loves me and I don’t know what the hell I should do now?”_

“Ask her out? I thought that was a no-brainer?”

“No. _No._ I can’t do that.”

Nino throws his hands up in frustration. “Why the fuck not?”

“Because… I… can’t?”

“You’re an idiot.”

“But think about it! What if she says no?”

“She won’t.”

“Nino, if she says no I will _literally die_ of embarrassment.”

“Good thing she won’t say no, then!”

“Okay. Let’s just say she says yes—”

“—She will—-”

Adrien glowers at him. “ _If_ she says yes, what will the kids at school think?”

“I promise you, other than me and Alya, nobody is going to give a shit.”

“ _Chloé?_ ”

“Okay, I’ll give you that one. But why do you give a shit about what she thinks? She sucks.”

“Fine. What about Rose?”

“Gay. Next?”

“I don’t fucking know, Juleka?”

“Gay. With Rose. Next?”

“Wait, what?”

“Oh my _god._ You haven’t noticed?”

“No?”

“They’ve been dating for months. No wonder you didn’t notice Marinette was into you.”

Adrien ignores the jab. “Huh. Okay, but what about Nathanael?” Adrien crosses his arms with a sort of _gotcha_ expression on his face.

“ _Who cares?_ Marinette isn’t into him, she’s into _you!”_ Nino, clearly, is not got.

Adrien, the smooth lady killer that he is, hangs up on Nino at the suggestion that Marinette is in love with him. _Good going._

Adrien’s phone buzzes, and he pushes off from the desk and rolls the chair over to his bed to pick it up.

⥈

**From: alya’s bf**

**To: lover boi**

bro did u just hang up on me

 

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

…

 

**From: alya’s bf**

**To: lover boi**

anyway do urself a favor just ask the girl out

 

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

i dont deserve her :/

 

**From: alya’s bf**

**To: lover boi**

maris a smart girl

with standards

if u didnt deserve her she wouldnt be in2 u

love urself and date her pls

 

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

r u sure….

 

**From: alya’s bf**

**To: lover boi**

u have my blessing, marshmallow ~alya

 

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

hold on

ur w alya rn?

oh ym gd o

has alya been listenign htis whole time

hello???

¿¿¿¿?????

dude

answe r me

dud e

**From: alya’s bf**

**To: lover boi**

read 5:27 pm ✔

 

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

ARE U SHITTIGN ME

THIS IS BETRAYAL

nino

blocked

⥈

Adrien chucks his phone back on the bed. _I really need new friends,_ he thinks, feeling the heat rise in his face. But no sooner does he do this than his phone buzzes again.

⥈

**From: unknown number**

**To: marshmallow**

adrien?

 

**From: marshmallow**

**To: unknown number**

um...sry who is this

?

 

**From: unknown number**

**To: marshmallow**

ya girl alya B)

 

**From: marshmallow**

**To: queen alya**

oh

 

**From: queen alya**

**To: marshmallow**

r u mad @ me? :((

 

**From: marshmallow**

**To: queen alya**

a little :/

not if u dont tell mari what i said tho

 

**From: queen alya**

**To: marshmallow**

thank god ok

and i wont dw

u have my word marshmallow

 

 **From:** **marshmallow**

**To: queen alya**

thx

 

**From: queen alya**

**To: marshmallow**

adrien?

 

**From: marshmallow**

**To: queen alya**

yeah ?

 

**From: queen alya**

**To: marshmallow**

u rlly like mari, right?

 

**From: marshmallow**

**To: queen alya**

um

yes

am i that obvious

 

**From: queen alya**

**To: marshmallow**

yeah

u are

but thats beside the point

i really think u should ask her out

i mean

both so i can write that im 2 for 2 as a wingman on my resume

but also because ur both my friends

and i want 2 c both of u happy

 

**From: marshmallow**

**To: queen alya**

okay…?

wait 2 for 2?

 

**From: queen alya**

**To: marshmallow**

i wingmanned myself and the boy thank u very much

 

**From: marshmallow**

**To: queen alya**

im not sure that counts?

 

**From: queen alya**

**To: marshmallow**

shut up

let me finish >:(

if u rly like mari

which u clearly do

dating her would make u happy, right?

 

**From: marshmallow**

**To: queen alya**

god yes

 

**From: queen alya**

**To: marshmallow**

ur a nerd

anyway

i know that if you ask her out, marinette will literally be the happiest girl in the world

also i dont know how much longer she can take this post it thing

shes like this close to imploding

i worry for that girl

anyway long soliloquy short date the heck out of my best friend pls and thank

⥈

Adrien puts down his phone and slowly exhales. _Well,_ he thinks. _I may not deserve Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but she_ _deserves to be happy._

Adrien hopes he can at least give her that.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY FUCK sorry that wait was so long!!!!! like what is motivation honestly 
> 
> i love u guys a lot thank u so much for being beautiful humans 
> 
> as always, likes, comments, and kudos are always appreciated!! 
> 
> i'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s only been a month since my last update! that’s gotta be a new record 
> 
> thanks to [sadrien](sadrien.tumblr.com) and [reyxa](reyxa.tumblr.com) for being excellent moral support, as well as the rest of mlfamfiction! y’all are the best, really. 
> 
> hope u all like this chapter!

Marinette clutches the crumpled post-it note with a death grip, scared that if she drops the note, the words would disappear.  _ I’m here, too.  _ And he  _ is  _ there. Where paper meets skin, she imagines his hand. Where the words are written into the sticky note, they’re stuck in her mind.  _ I’m here, too.  _ But Marinette isn’t quite here, on the bench in the courtyard. Her mind is in a different place and a different time. 

Yesterday, in the locker room. 

⥈

Marinette had never been more nervous in her entire life. This note— this fateful note— felt more like a commitment than any of the ones before. The other notes were just games. They were fun. Flirty. Nothing too serious. But  _ this?  _ An  _ I love you _ written in red ink? Felt more like it was etched in stone. Once Adrien received this note, there would be no going back. No more  _ I like your face,  _ no more  _ fabric of my dreams.  _ Only  _ I love you.  _ Five minutes from then, he would have said  _ I love you _ , and she would have said it back. Declarations of love would have been exchanged. Like a pact. 

“Just go do it, Mari!” Alya encouraged her. “You’ve got this” 

Marinette took a tentative breath, took a step forward, and was on her way. As she walked, she stared at the note, checking for any imperfections. This note had to be perfect. No wrinkles, no ink splotches, nothing. Perfect. Just like him. 

As she walked, she went to hold the note up to the light, just for one final check, and— 

She was suddenly not holding the post-it anymore. She stumbled backward. She’d run into something, and judging by the smarting sensation on her chest, something had run into her. Or rather,  _ someone.  _ In front of her stood a very dazed,  _ very  _ red Adrien with an  _ I love you  _ on his forehead. All the heat in her body migrated to her face in a split second, and she turned and  _ ran.  _

Next thing she knew, she was doubled over, panting, in front of Alya. “Damn, Marinette, what happened to you? You’re redder than a ladybug!” 

“Accident.” Marinette wheezed. “We sort of… ran into each other. I think I smacked him in the face.” 

“You  _ what?”  _ Alya screeched. Heads snapped towards her, but she glowered at them. “Mind your own damn business!” 

Everyone complied, and Alya rounded on Marinette once again. “You  _ smacked him in the face?”  _

“I—” 

“Wait.” Alya stuck a finger up, signaling for Marinette to stop moving. “You have something on your tits.” 

“My...my  _ what?”  _

“Your boobs. Breasts. The girls, Marinette.” 

Marinette’s breath caught as she glimpsed the flash of yellow. She peeled the sticky note off of her shirt.  _ I’m here, too _ , it read. The note had been right over her heart.  _ Yeah,  _ she thought.  _ You  _ are  _ here.  _

⥈

Marinette’s hand thrums with electricity around the note, but what shocks her back to Earth is the sound of someone clearing their throat. 

“Marinette?” She starts and jerks her head upwards, chucking the note under the bench.   
“A-Adrien,” she stutters. She hates how ugly it sounds when she says it like that, laced with nerves and extra syllables. His name deserves music. She feels her shoulders relax as his name fills her mind. “Adrien,” she breathes. 

He stiffens, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.  _ Oh god, was that out loud?  _

“Um.” His voice cracks, and so does what’s left of her defenses. “Can I, uh…” he gestures towards the spot beside her on the bench. 

“You can, uh… yes. Yes you can sit down. I mean if you want. I mean I think that’s what you’re asking. That’s what you’re asking, right? Oh my god. This is so embarrassing. I’m so embarrassing.” 

Adrien’s laughter sounds like magic. “Yeah. Sit. I’d like to...do that.” 

Marinette scoots over a little.  _ Holy  _ shit  _ he’s cute.  _

He sits down next to her, and the air between them feels as if it’s crackling with energy. 

“So?” she chokes out. 

“So.” He lets out a shaky breath, for what reason she can’t tell. He’s avoiding her eyes. “Uh. Yesterday.” 

The memory of it all rushes back again, and with Adrien next to her, it seems less like a dreamy fantasy and more like the worst, most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to her. 

“I hit you in the face!” Marinette yelps, almost falling off the bench. “Oh my god, I am  _ so  _ sorry. Are you okay?” She twists in her seat to examine his forehead, making sure she didn’t blemish it.  _ Is that just me, or did he just bite his lip?  _ Surely she’s imagining it. She freezes and pointedly stares at the ground.  _ Again with overstepping my boundaries.  _

Adrien clears his throat and taps her hand. He pries open her stiff, ever so slightly shaking fingers with his own, leaving a tingling sensation in his wake wherever he touches. His fingers close around hers and she feels him give her something, but he doesn’t let go. What.  _ What.  _ He’s still holding her hand? Her brain short-circuits, and all that exists and all that matters is  _ contact.  _ She keeps waiting for him to pull away but  _ desperately  _ hopes he never does, and it’s just his skin on her hand and if only that  _ barrier  _ in between the two of them— what was that, a slip of paper?— would just disappear so it would just be the two of them like this forever. Somewhere between not knowing and knowing, somewhere between a crush and real heartache,  _ something between their hands.  _

“Oh.  _ Oh my god.”  _ Adrien’s hand jerks away.  The echo of contact lingers on her hand, which is buzzing with the electric shocks he left behind. “ _ Oh. My god.”  _ Without another word, he stands up and leaves, leaving Marinette dumbfounded. She watches his back as he leaves. He’s staring at his hands. Marinette’s falls open. A post-it note flutters to the ground. She stares at it for a moment before slowly bending down to pick it up. Slowly, she opens the perfectly folded note, and the barrier between them is broken—  _ Marinette,  _ the note reads,  _ will you be my lady?  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments and kudos mean so much! 
> 
> i'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love [reyxa](reyxa.tumblr.com)
> 
> heres ch11 its a mess pls enjoy 
> 
> i love u guys tbh u wait so long for these things

Marinette doesn’t tell anyone about the note. She doesn’t tell Alya, she doesn’t tell Nino, she doesn’t even tell Tikki. 

The hardest part is pretending that she has it together. She doesn’t. She is bursting at the seams. She is overflowing with excitement and confusion and happiness and she doesn’t even know  _ what _ . All she knows is that Adrien Agreste asked her out.  _ Oh my god,  _ she thinks.  _ Adrien asked me out.  _ And she is going to explode. 

She can feel Adrien’s anxious gaze following her as she walks past his desk to hers. She pretends not to see. 

Unfortunately, she is not an actress. 

“Marinette,” Alya hisses, “what is up with you right now?”

“There is nothing up with me right now” Marinette exclaims, trying to keep her voice down. Of course, the whole class hears and turns to look at her. Except Adrien.  _ Shit.  _

Marinette lets out a slow breath, steadying her voice and her heart. “There is nothing up with me right now,” she repeats calmly. 

Ms. Mendeleiev comes to her rescue. “I don’t know what the calamity is about, but you all need to settle down.” She clicks her tongue as she assumes her spot at the front of the room. For once, Marinette is thankful for her sternness, and the class stops chattering about Marinette’s outburst almost instantly.  _ How is the whole class not hearing my heartbeat?  _

The lesson sounds like waves crashing against a beach. For once, physics is calming her down. It’s white noise to distract her from the reality that is Adrien’s nervous energy, that is Adrien’s note, that is  _ Adrien _ . She doesn’t know if she can ever think about anything else. Akumas be damned, Adrien Agreste is the  _ only _ thing that matters. 

She’s numb. She’s floating above the ground, and she recklessly thinks she’ll never fall. And if she does? Then by god it will be worth it. 

⥈

Marinette’s gaze is frozen on the post-it note she’s stuck to her desk.  _ Marinette, will you be my lady?  _ These are words she’s wanted to hear since he’d handed her the umbrella, but she never thought she’d be  _ reading _ them. 

Her trance is only broken by a sharp rapping. She looks up and shrieks, startled, by Alya, who is leaning up against the wall with a smirk on her face. 

“Have you been sitting there long?” 

“Have you been  _ standing _ there long?” 

“Only about a minute. You?” 

Marinette sighs. “No idea. What time is it?” 

“Late enough that I called you five separate times at half an hour intervals. It went to voicemail all five times, by the way.” 

“You did?” 

Alya strode across the room to the bed, where Marinette had thrown her phone upon arriving home apparently more than two and a half hours ago. Alya snatched it up and squinted at it. “Your sound is on. At full volume. Were you ignoring me?” 

“Oh my god. No! I would never!” 

“Uh huh.” 

“I would never ignore the love of my life!”

“Then why didn’t you pick up the phone?” 

Marinette hesitated. “The...other love of my life.” 

Alya nearly chucked the phone at her. “Adrien?! What did he do?” 

Marinette moved to block the note from view, but Alya was too fast. She held the note high above Marinette’s head, and Marinette made a move to grab it, knocking Alya to the ground. Surprised, Alya drops the note to the floor. Marinette scoops it up, hugging the note to her chest. 

“ _ No, _ ” she growls possessively. 

Alya sits up and pouts. “Please?” 

Marinette grits her teeth. “ _Fine.”_ _  
_ She holds out the note to Alya, who practically rips it from Marinette’s grip, and immediately screams. “Oh my god! Marinette! Oh my _god!_ ” 

“I know!” Marinette squeals. “Look at that shit!” 

“ _ Adrien Agreste asked you out!”  _

_ “I am very aware!”  _

“Girl. Holy shit.” 

“ _ I know.” _

“So.” Alya stands up and brushes herself off. “What’s the plan?” 

“I’m gonna say yes?” 

“That’s obvious. I mean, like, how are you going about it?” 

Marinette grins deviously. “I’m following tradition. A post-it note.” 

⥈

“Wait, so you stole his  _ textbook? _ ” Alya shrieks, staring at the book Marinette has open on her lap. 

“I didn’t steal it!” Marinette protests. “I’m just...borrowing it.” 

“How’d you get it?” 

“I might know his locker combination?”

“What the fuck? Who gave it to you?” 

“I stole Nino’s phone because I know Nino has it.” 

Alya shakes her head incredulously. “You need an intervention.”   
Marinette reaches into her bag and takes out a pink glitter gel pen and her pack of post-its. “Apparently so.” 

Alya lets out an exasperated sigh. “Did you at least give my boyfriend’s phone back?” 

“Yes.” Marinette carefully peels a post-it note from the top of the pack and smooths it down in the inside cover. The same spot where she found the first  _ you’re beautiful _ all those weeks ago. “He’ll never know it was gone. Unless you tell him, of course.” 

Alya rolls her eyes. “You  know I won’t.” 

“You’re truly a great friend.” 

“I know.” 

“Now leave. I need a moment with this post-it note. Before I break into Adrien’s locker again.” 

“Do your thing. But if you get arrested, I don’t know anything,” Alya jibes as she turns on her heel and leaves Marinette alone. 

Marinette sucks in a breath as she zeroes in on the post-it. She uncaps the pen, and in neat, careful script, writes,  _ Yes!  _

And she finally, finally signs it.

_ With love, your lady, Marinette.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars!](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)
> 
> comments/kudos/reblogs on tumblr mean the world <3


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops sorry about that long wait! hope this makes up for it!  
> huge thanks to [sunlitshowers](sunlitshowers.tumblr.com) and [megatraven](megatraven.tumblr.com) for helping me work through this chapter. i owe you my life tbh  
> and shoutout to [reyxa](reyxa.tumblr.com) and [agrestenoir](agrestenoir.tumblr.com) for listening to me scream into the void and smash my head against the keyboard as i wrote this!!
> 
> i hope you guys like it!!!!

Adrien Agreste is horribly, visibly nervous. He stands in front of his locker, aggressively tapping his foot and refreshing his text messages with Nino again—

⥈

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

Hey i need u to come to my locker i’m freaking out

⥈

—and again—

⥈

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

It’s important i have done something horrifically stupid

Even by my standards

⥈

—and again.

⥈

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

Bro it has been fifteen minutes where in the fuc k

⥈

Adrien can’t stop thinking about it. About how he had asked Marinette out. About how her hand had felt in his, and how badly he wants to feel that again.

About how she didn’t look at the note before he’d left.

About how he might have ruined everything.

His post-it note game had turned into a gamble, and the universe’s slot machine is refusing to tell him if he’s won or lost the bet. Finally, his phone vibrates.

⥈

**From: alya’s bf**

**To: lover boi**

hey my dude my bro my dudebro i couldn’t find my phone… turns out i put it in the wrong pocket or something

headed over rn

 

**From: lover boi**

**To: alya’s bf**

Thank god

Never call me dudebro again

⥈

“What’s wrong, my dudebro?” Adrien hears Nino’s voice and snaps to attention, hitting his head against the locker behind him in the process.

“That nickname,” Adrien grumbles, rubbing the back of his head where he’d hit it. “And also, I asked Marinette out. And now I’m having a crisis.”

“That nickname is fantast— holy shit, you did _what?”_

“Asked Marinette out. I gave her a post-it note asking her to be my girlfriend? I think?”

“Adrien,” Nino shakes his head incredulously. “You _think_?”

“I mean, it kind of feels like a dream? I was kind of detached from that whole thing, honestly. I accidentally held her hand for about thirty seconds while I slipped her the note because I got so caught up in the moment, so now she probably hates me.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Nino places his hands on Adrien’s shoulders, steadying him. “Breathe, dude. Breathe. We’re breathing.”

“If you say so?”

“Okay, let’s go over this. One, you asked out Marinette. That is not an undoable action.”

“Thank you, I feel so encouraged right now.” Adrien rolls his eyes.

“Two, shut up. Three, you are simultaneously disgusting and adorable. You held her hand for thirty seconds without even realizing? Seriously?”

“I… don’t know? It could have been longer?”

“Jesus Christ. Four, why the fuck would she hate you?”

“Because she didn’t open it before I left? And she hasn’t responded?”

“That is ridiculous. And five, we’re ten minutes late for physics.”

“Holy _crap_ , we are ten minutes late for physics!” Adrien throws his phone into his bag and makes a run for it.

“Whoa, slow down!” Nino yells, running after him.

“I’m gonna get my ass kicked by Ms. Mendeleiev! I am so screwed and I am—” Adrien skids to a stop, smacking a hand to his forehead in frustration. “—forgetting my _fucking_ textbook.” Adrien sprints back to his locker, nearly knocking an out-of-breath Nino in the process.

“Dude, please chill?”

“ _NO,_ ” Adrien shrieks, frantically inputting the combination and throwing open the locker door. He grabs his textbook and makes a beeline for the physics classroom.

⥈

Ms. Mendeleiev purses her lips in disapproval as Adrien and Nino burst into the room, panting. “Mr. Lahiffe,” she says as they slide into their seats, “I cannot say I am surprised.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence,” he responds, with a guilty yet amused look in his eyes.

Ms. Mendeleiev turns on Adrien as he slowly opens the textbook cover to try to quash the adrenaline rush that has overtaken his system and to avoid any and all attention directed at him from his very angry teacher. “Mr. Agreste, on the other hand,” she scolds, “I was _not_ expecting to be so tardy.”

Adrien averts his eyes and stares down at his textbook as he opens it. “I’m so sorry, I am—” Adrien sees the yellow sticky note and a flash of pink and glitter. He yanks it from the inside cover and slams the book shut, jumping to his feet. _Oh god._ “—going to the bathroom now. I am going, right now, to the bathroom. Thanks.”

He can feel Marinette’s stare burning into his back as he dashes out of the room.

⥈

Adrien lets out a long exhale as he closes the stall door behind him. He carefully smoothes out the creases in the note before reading what it has to say. “Please let this be good,” he whispers to no one in particular.

_Yes! With love, your lady, Marinette._

And _this_ is the high he’s heard about. The rush of being in control, of winning the bet. He’d been afraid of the risk, but with this note, the odds are a hundred to none in his favor. _Moments like these,_ he thinks, _are the kind that get people addicted to gambling._

⥈

He waits for her outside of class. She’s the last one to leave. She glances around the hallway, looking for something, but doesn’t seem to find it. Adrien clears his throat. Marinette jumps a little, startled, but when she turns to face him, her eyes are all mischief and nervous energy and excitement.

Adrien raises his hand in greeting. It’s hesitant, but the smile she returns is immediate.

“Hey.”

She giggles, and Adrien wants to record that sound and play it on loop forever. “So… did you get my note?”

“I did.”

“Is that why you left physics?”

“It is.”

“Did you like it?”

“Of course.”

Her eyes sparkle. “I’ve never heard you talk like this. What happened to your standard eloquence?”

“I am…” he trails off, trying to memorize the sound of her voice. “I am at a loss to describe how over the moon I am right now.”

“I’m not at a loss. I’m on a whole other _planet_.”

Adrien cannot even rationalize the cocktail of emotions he feels in this moment, but the one thing that keeps coming back to him is _lucky._ “Well?” Adrien extends his hand for Marinette to take. “Shall we, princess?”

Marinette glances down at it with a smile full of anticipation and warmth that makes Adrien melt. “We shall.”

As their fingers intertwine, Adrien can’t help but notice how different this is from the last time. Last time, his head was in the clouds, full of fantasies, far away and separate from the reality of their touch. This time, though, the feeling of her hand in his brings him down to Earth, more aware than he’s been in a while.

This time, he’s grounded. This time, he’s _safe._ And this time, he’s not wishing for a miracle— he has his miracle. That’s what Marinette is. His miracle. His princess. His _lady._

And he couldn’t be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can anyone figure out what's cool about the way marinette responded/how adrien got her response? lmk in comments i want to see your Theories [insert eye emoji] 
> 
> i'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhhh my god that was a long hiatus i am so sorry  
> my motivation was like 0 as was my inspiration and the amount of time i could commit to this fic  
> but here it is!!!!! thank you all for being so patient <3  
> special thanks to [reyxa](reyxa.tumblr.com), [sunlitshowers](sunlitshowers.tumblr.com), and [sadrien](sadrien.tumblr.com) for being a great hype team, and to [megatraven](megatraven.tumblr.com) for beta-ing!  
> I really hope you all like this chapter!

Marinette accepts the call and presses the phone to her ear. The line is silent for a few seconds, because they both have nothing and everything to say. 

Finally, she hears Adrien let out a breath. “Hey.” 

“Hi.” 

“Well… that happened.” 

Marinette can’t help the smile that creeps onto her face. “Yeah. Yeah, it did.”  

“So…” Adrien trails off. 

“So.” 

“Uh… how are you tonight?” 

Something in Marinette snaps. It could’ve been the uncomfortable quiet from before, or it could’ve been impulse, or it could’ve been flat-out impatience. “Adrien Agreste, I have been waiting too long for this to listen to you and your  _ perfect manners. _ Just, please, do me a favor and spit it out.” 

There is a stunned silence for what feels like hours. “Uh… Adrien? You still there?” 

Marinette hears a slow, shaky exhale. “Yeah. Yes. I’m still on. Okay. Okay. What do you want me to say?” 

“Everything,” she says. “Tell me everything.” 

Adrien takes a breath like he’s going to say something eloquent, as usual. But what comes through the phone is the opposite of what she expects. 

“I like your hair and your eyes and the way you dot your  _ i _ ’s with hearts is just so  _ cute.  _ You barely talked to me and that just made me want to get to know you more. I love how you’d always look away when you caught me staring at you because the way you turned your head and covered your mouth with your hand is just… nice? I don’t know, you just look pretty when you do that. You were so nervous around me and I felt bad but I also liked it because you get all bouncy and fidgety and it made me want to hold your hands. But then you’re confident around everyone  _ else  _ and I wanted to know  _ that  _ side of you—” 

Marinette  _ really likes  _ this Adrien. His grammar is atrocious by his normal standards, his tenses don’t make sense, nothing is well thought out. This Adrien is imperfect and flawed and talkative and  _ comfortable.  _ And she couldn’t help feeling like she’d heard this before— from a leather-clad, lanky kid on a rooftop, talking about that perfect girl in his class. And if Adrien sounded like Chat did about her… well. Adrien must think Marinette was something special. And for once, Marinette  _ believed  _ him. As his words turned to a beautiful hum in her head, Marinette thought that she wouldn’t mind getting used to this. 

“—and I know I said I love you before, but I wrote it, so… out loud I guess? I think I love you. Alrightnowgoit’syourturn.” 

Marinette’s blush threatens to melt her face. “My turn?” 

“Please?” Adrien croaks weakly. 

Marinette giggles. “Okay. I love  _ this  _ you. I love it when you let your guard down because then you’re cute and you ramble and I like to hear you talk. I love how you try so hard to be this perfect kid and you just can’t because you’re so  _ you.  _ I like how your hands feel and I like how you act around your friends and how you joke around with them, and—” she keeps talking. And talking. Until the clock turns to 1.  “—and I think I love you too.” 

2, 3. “ _ God,  _ how were we so  _ oblivious?”  _ Adrien almost shouts.

4\. “We were stupid. But stupid is okay sometimes.”  

“Yeah,” Adrien muses. “Stupid got us here.” 

5, 6. “Let’s watch the sunrise.” Adrien slurs. “Too late—” 

“Too  _ early—”  _

“To sleep now,” they finish together. They laugh, and Marinette rolls the chair to the window. She imagines how the sun will illuminate Adrien’s eyelashes— _ that’s so specific, _ she thinks, and laughs to herself. She works in specifics— and how the light will shine on his hair. 

And then Marinette hears his alarm go off. “ _ Shit, _ ” he whispers. “See you at school.” 

“Yeah,” Marinette replies, barely processing. But he’s already hung up. 

⥈

Adrien arrives at school with a butterfly kiss on her cheek and a thermos pressed into her hands. “Hot chocolate,” he murmurs. “Spiked with coffee.” 

“Thank you,” she groans. “I owe you my life.” 

“‘Sokay,” he slurs. “Alright. Going to… locker.” 

“Uh huh.” With bleary eyes, she watches Adrien shuffle away, clutching a thermos of his own.

“Someone’s tired.” Alya breezes in front of Marinette, too awake for Marinette to handle. 

Marinette rubs her eyes. “No kidding.” 

“Something happen?”   
“Yeah. Phone call. All night. Really cute.” 

“ _ What?”  _ Alya shrieks. “SPILL.” Marinette gives Alya a dead look. “Okay. Tomorrow. Get your physics stuff.” 

⥈

Marinette just about collapses into her seat. She opens up her textbook robotically at Ms. Mendeleiev’s instruction, but that’s the end of her battery life. Her eyelids begin feel too heavy to keep open. She is beyond caffeine’s saving.  

She can smell Adrien’s coffee and hear his slightly altered voice over the phone. Her vision starts to blur. It’s a pretty kind of sleep, something that feels like it’s been waiting for her with hot chocolate and a butterfly kiss. Numb, but warm. 

As Marinette’s face presses down into the inside cover of her physics textbook—  _ not to fall asleep, just to rest, _ she tries to convince herself— she feels the remnants of sticky note glue. 

Even knowing that Ms. Mendeleiev will  _ not  _ be happy, even being too tired to move, she smiles into the page.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not posting this on tumblr anymore, but i would appreciate if you reblogged my older chapters if you haven't yet at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com/tagged/post-its)! 
> 
> as always, comments and kudos mean the world. 
> 
> I hope that chapter was worth the wait!

**Author's Note:**

> I put off writing this for SO LONG and then i finally banged it out at 1am so i Apologize
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [zoenightstars](zoenightstars.tumblr.com)!


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